Almost there (sort of)!
“So you will swear allegiance to me, then? Take off the cockade, and instead wear the rose?” King Adam snuffed laughter at Joseph’s involuntary start. “I am no fool, Monsieur, for all you… revolutionaries… called me Le Bete. Too many Frenchmen have been taught to hate the scent of the fleur-de-lis. Better to use the symbol of my House, until those memories fade.”
“I understand, your Majesty. As to your question… I could swear my allegiance to you, yes. But would you trust me? Should you trust me?” He waved a hand in Berthier’s direction. “The general is a forthright man, justly angry at being lied to and unused to having his honor stained by others. He has spent his days in the field, far from the stinks and corruptions of the capital. I… am more used to the game of factions, your Majesty. I have been dealt a shabby hand, to be sure. How could you be certain that someday someone else might deal me a better one?”
The queen spoke first, in the rather appalled silence that followed. “Citizen Fouché, are you trying to talk yourself into meeting the executioner’s dagger?”
Is that how they are executing rebels? Joseph thought. What a relief. “Your Majesty, I am only saying aloud the things that others would happily whisper later in your ears. It is well-known that I am linked to the Committee and the Convention. It is reasonable to think that my conversion might be from expedience, not conviction. I will not lie about it.” I dare not lie about it.
